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Monday, 28 February 2011

I know too much about you! Are the words of No.6 bellowed at No.2 during their deliberations in Once Upon A Time. So just how does No.6 know so much about this particular No.2? Well towards the end of Fall out, the viewer sees No.2 returning to the Houses of Parliament, trhough the Peers entrance, wearing a business suit, Bowler hat, carrying a furled umbrella and briefcase. And it just so happens that the Prisoners house is in Buckingham Place, in the City of Westminster, London. When the Prisoner is on his way to hand in his letter of resignation, he parks his car in an underground car park in Abingdon Street, a mere stones throw from the Houses of Parliament. So I suppose, that it is always possible, that although No.6 and No.2 had never met before, that intelligence of No.2 could have reached the Prisoner during his former work. I mean a man like No.2, who once had the ears of Statesmen, Kings and Princes of many lands. Able to sway Governments, to define policies and nip revolutions in the bud, at a word from him in the right place, and at a propitious time, is a man to be noticed, a man with power, to be reckoned with.
BCNU

You probably watched the previous video posted here, Village Day, a short video comprised of a series of stills, both of the film and production photographs taken during the production of the arthouse film between 1998-99. It is my intention to have Village Day trasnferred to DVD, edited, and then placed on the World Wide web sometime in the future. But for now, here is Village Day Revisited.

How in Arrival, when the Prisoner looks up at the Bell Tower he sees a man leaning out looking down at him. Yet he races round to the step and door of the Bell Tower, climbs up inside the Bell Tower to confront......a stone statue! So where did the man go? Surely if he'd have been there in the first place, the Prisoner could hardly have missed him!
BCNU

Some fans of the Prisoner have him as a kind of anti-hero. He is seen as a rebel in the way he rejects the village. Yet there can be no doubt the the Prisoner is a man of violence, violence which he takes to the extreme, causing a bloody and violent revolution, when he had the opportunity to go quietly.
Be seeing you

I do not know the date of this picture, it could be the 1930's, 40's, and even the 1950's, but it certainly pre dates the Prisoner, as the Bristol Colonnade {Bandstand} has not yet been put in place, and the Gloriette, the balcony from where No.6 delivers his first election speech in the episode Free For All, is also yet to be constructed. As are the cottages Telfords Tower, and Unicorn cottage. And where the pool and fountain are to be found today, are the tennis courts.

Sunday, 27 February 2011

Here's a thought I had the other day, and it had not occurred to me before. If both the President and the members of the Assembly were prepared to let No.6 go if he chose to, why did No.6 have to shoot it out, when he could have left the village peaceably?
BCNU

If Chimes involved a sea voyage to another time zone, how did, you might ask yourself, the tape recording of the chimes of Big Ben coincide exactly with the time of No.6's wrist watch? Well of course the wrist watch did not belong to No.6, he had taken Karels' watch, Nadia's contact man back in the cave, his own having become water logged. The Colonel put the fact that No.6's watch coincided exactly with Big Ben by saying "Perhaps he was slow!" Had Nadias contact man adjusted his watch to Polish time, then there would have been no problem, there being one hours difference between English Greenwich meantime and that of Polish time. However, this question of time in an interesting one, as when resolved, proves that the location of the village is in the same time zone, as the village shares the same time as England.
BCNU

Village Day is an arthouse film which I produced between 1998-99. It is based on the 1960's television series the Prisoner, as well as being set at the time of the said series. The short video which you are about to see, is unfornuately not from the film itself, but contains production stills, with a few stills from the film itself, set to the films theme music.

Here No.6 in the guise of the Colonel, is caught in a romantic embrace with his fiancee Janet Portland during the Prisoner episode Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling.
Zena Walker must have been disappointed when she saw that it would be Nigel Stock she would be kissed by him, instead of finding herself in the arms of Patrick McGoohan. After all she would not be the first woman to be attracted to Patrick, and she would not be the last. But Patrick McGoohan was of course a maried man, married to actress Joan Drummond. But it was possibly the attraction of someone who is unobtainable, that makes the attraction!
Be seeing you

Saturday, 26 February 2011

Shakespeare summed it all up, so they say. The seven ages of man, which is life as No.2 takes No.6 through parts of his own life. From the infant mewling and puking in the nurses arms, to the point of death. One age of man was not re-enacted between No.2 and No,.6 in that Embryo Room, and that is the 'lover,' and for obvious reasons. But one part of the Prisoners life re-enacted is wrong, that of the soldier. No.6 would have been far too young to have taken part in WWII. Although McGoohan did have a bit-part in the 1955 film The Dam Busters. I wonder if that's the reason No.6 and No.2 re-enacted the roles of a bomber crew as part of the Prisoners/McGoohan's life? After all, Once Upon A Time is part biographical of McGoohan's own life.
BCNU

Now I have always been of the opinion that the Prisoner and Patrick McGoohans former character John Drake of Danger Man are one and the same. It seemed logical to me that after McGoohan had resigned from his role as John Drake, that such a secret agent could not be left to roam free. Something had to happen to him. And so John Drake was abducted to the village and given the identity of No.6.
But it has always been a matter of contention, the identity of the Prisoner-No.6. I noted years ago, that during their deliberations of Once Upon A Time, how someone had heard No.2 say to the Prisoner "See me in my study in the morning Drake." This someone once wrote, is confirmation that the Prisoner is John Drake. The only trouble is, what No.2 actually says is "See me in my study in the morning break," not Drake. A simple case of mishearing I'm afraid.
BCNU

Well surely he had to have been, to have made himself No.1!
I wonder what happens if you get rid of No.1, as No.6 did. No I don't mean you have to launch him off in a rocket, to get rid of No.1. But to do so, would that make you a free man? I would have thought so. But after 'Sir' had returned to London, and driving off in his car, we see him driving passed the Houses of Parliament, and the word Prisoner looms large on the television screen.
So even after ridding himself of No.1, he's still a Prisoner. which means there's simply no hope for him!
I'll be seeing you

Friday, 25 February 2011

This image is taken from the final episode of Checkmate, as Michael is in the underground car park, about to enter the Summakor building. But look beyond Michael, and his car.....that's a yellow nosed Caterham Seven in the background! Here it is again, in an enlarged section.

If I hadn't been busy looking for something else, I might not have seen it myself. You see there's more of the original series of the Prisoner in the 2009 series than the average fan of the series might first imagine!

Nadia Rakovski, if that was in fact her real name, was a plant in the village, and assigned to No.6. But I wonder how much Nadia was briefed about the village? How well she was prepared? How much she understood what she would be put through?
A young woman, apparently on her own, in a hostile environment, who goes off to try and swim away from the village, and faced with an unimaginable 'thing,' which half drowns, half suffocates No.8.
No.8 struck up a relationship with No.6. They appeared to become close. But that could have been simply on the part of No.8, as I'm sure No.6 was using her for the knowledge she has regarding the location of the village.
I know Nadia is a plant. That she has fooled No.6, but then the chink in No.6's armour is the fact that he cannot resist a damsel in distress, and that fact has been played upon at least twice during No.6's captivation in the village.
Nadia must be one of the "trusties," seeing as she is allowed to leave the village, with it's knowledge inside her head. She is also very good at her job, see how easily she reeled No.6 in! I remember watching The Chimes of Big Ben and thought Nadia was a genuine person, until the end that is. Never trust a woman, especially those bearing information! But then No.6 couldn't resist the charms of Nadia Rakovski, and neither could I. But don't tell the wife!
Be seeing you

It has to be said that there are a good many people who do not like the 2009 series of THEPRISONER. Indeed, one person I know gave it but half an hour of the first episode Arrival before he switched off. Another didn't even give it that, only a mere ten minutes. Why didn't, don't, they like it? Well for a variety of reasons. One friend of mine said "Why make a new series, when we already have the original?"
I look at it like this. If Bill Gallagher had written his series first, that is the series fans would have liked. And then along comes one Patrick McGoohan producing a new series, that is the one fans of THEPRISONER would have taken against! Me? Oh I'm pleased to say that I count myself fortunate, that as far as THEPRISONER goes, I count myself amongst the minority.
I'll be seeing you

Thursday, 24 February 2011

This is a copy of the map drawn by No.6 during the episode of Dance of the Dead. The fact that No.6 was able to escape the village, and was able to search for the village by jet aircraft, a Gloster Meteor jet, that No.6 was able to draw this map. Because now he knows the actual location of the village, which he learned in the previous episode of Many Happy Returns. Pity he didn't think to add the longitude and latitude as well!
Be seeing you.

In it's time a number of parallels have been drawn between the Prisoner a number of films, and literary works. Dance of the Dead is particularly Kafkaesque. Because in Kafkas The Trial, Josef K is arrested and put on trial without knowing what he is charged with. In Dance of the Dead, No.6 is put on trial for the simple possesion of a radio set, and like Jospf K, is sentenced to death. Yet Unlike No.6, Josef K does not survive the sentence!
Both Josef K, andNo.6, are victimised by an absurd bureaucracy, and like the modern world in which Josef K lives, the village administration too, can condemn a man of nothing!
BCNU

1st guard "Okay. Now we've got him surrounded, what are we going to do with him?"

2nd guard "Well I'm all in favour of shooting him."

3rd guard "What, you mean put him up against a wall and execute him?"

1st guard "Oh I don't think we need go that far."

Voice from the back"What you mean shoot him where he sits?"

3rd guard "That doesn't seem very sporting to me!"
2nd guard "We could wear blindfolds!"
Voice from the back "Who as heard of a firing squad wearing blindfolds? We should put the
blindfold on the Prisoner!"
1st guard "Oh we couldn't shoot him. 'Sir' is far to valuable."
3rd guard "Well shoot Number forty-eight then. I mean what have we got to lose?"
2nd guard "Any last requests Number forty-eight?"
No.48 "Yeah! Hey Patrick, get me out of this!"
BCNU

Its seems to me that the face of the Colonel, has much in common with that of the variety of No.2's in the village, it keeps changing. Although not so fequently! The Colonel here, is the third Colonel we see in the Prisoner series, with one to come, that of Colonel Hawke-Englishe who caught a packet at the wicket, one run short of his century. More than this, the Colonel was made mention of by Roland Walter Dutton, whilst speaking to No.6 on the telephone during the early stages of Dance of the Dead.
I wonder if No.6 knew this Colonel? And I think I'm right to observe that he's wearing a military 'Guards' tie.
BCNU

Wednesday, 23 February 2011

In a recent post of the same title as this one, there was the question of who the guy in the suit was, trying to look like the Prisoner? It was stated in a comment I received, that there is no mystery about the identity of this man, and that he's Alexis Kanner. Well here is another photogrpah, taken at the same time, and it's perfectly clear to me that this man, standing there, rubbing his hands together, is not Alexis Kanner.

I forgot to say in the previous post, that this man doesn't have ginger curly hair, where as Alexis Kanner Does. This same man can also be seeing in production shots of Fall Out, in the cavern beneath the village, as pictured below. Admittedly the picture is on the dark side,but nevertheless, there stands this is unknown figure, dressed as the Prisoner, with McGoohan and Kanner in the same photograph.

Here is an enlargement of a section of the above picture.

Although this man must be a stand-in, or stunt double for Patrick McGoohan, during the production of the Prisoner episode Fall Out, I have never been able to identify who he is. Nor do I know of any other fan of the series who can put a name to this man of mystery!
Be seeing you

I'm reminded of all those hot summer days in Portmeirion, dressed as the Prisoner-No.6. Stopped now and then, as I used to be, by people who asked to have their photograph taken with me, and that happened more often than not. Promenading around the village, through the woods, naughty, naughty, but always keeping to the paths. And out on the beach, to the island in the estuary beyond the village. Trips into the Prisoner shop, and see the look on the customers there to see No.6 walk into his cottage.

Free For All, or Dance of the Dead? Because in Free For All No.6 doesn't know where the Town Hall is, but in Dance of the Dead, No.6 follows No.240 to the Town Hall, only he didn't know about the electric force field! Also No.6 appears to be firmly ensconced in the village in Free For All, whereas in Dance of the Dead No.6 says firmly I'm new here! which places Dance of the Dead as an earlier episode than it's episode placement.
Why am I writing this? Well for years and years there was, and possibly still is, an on-going debate between fans about the screening order of the episodes of the Prisoner. And quite frequently no two redressed screening orders by any two people was ever the same. The only thing to be said of any adjusted screening sequence of the Prisoner episodes, is that it has to commence with Arrival and end with Fall out. Well with one exception - mine. I have the Prisoner commencing with Fall out, because the end of Fall Out is the start of Arrival. There had been a falling out between the village administration and No,6, who having escaped the confines of the village, returned to London, and the first thing he did was set out to hand in his letter of resignation from the village!
BCNU

Fall Out - It's got nothing to do with a an exploding nuclear warhead, more to do with a falling out with all concerned! You have the Kid in funny clothes, playing a Jester, as the former No.2 imparts A funny thing happened to me on the way....... here! And everyone laughs, it's a damnned pantomime!
A rocket is launched, over shadowing the Green Dome, the seat of government you could say. And the village guardian, an entity or consciousness which had so often burst upon our television screens in earlier episodes, now shrivels and dies. What was that? - That would be telling.....! is all we have ever learned about the beast. Whatever it was, it has now been laid to rest.
BCNU

This is he, who carries out experiments, not in splitting the atom. Not in trying to cure the common cold, but in separating the mind from the body, and inplanting it in another subject. In other words 'Mind Transferance.'
This is the guise in which we first encounter the Professor, but is it the original face of Professor Seltzman? I only ask because at the end of the episode of Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling, we learn that Seltzman had progressed further in his experiemnts than anyone had imagined. He did, simultaniously, swop three minds at the same time. So that it might have looked as though it was Professor Seltzman lying there on an operating table, but it was the mind of the Colonel that spoke Tell Number One I did my duty. Which can only mean that the person who left the village aboard the helicopter was Seltzman, but in the guise of the Colonel, as seen below.

There is something of a mystery about Professor Jacob Seltzman.Although we do know that he was born in Kandersfeld in Austria, that he is an Austrian Jew, and is a Profesor experimenting in Mind Transferance, we know very little. For example, where was it that Seltzman first began his experiments? From where did he acquire his subjects to use in his experiments? Possibly in the Nazi concentration camps of WWII perhaps. After all No.2 did give Seltzman the Nazi salute Heil!
But certainly there is value in Seltzmans work, I think the Prisoner-No.6 knew that much. A form of immortality it might be, when you could take the mind of one person, someone whose mind is in a disabled body, or someone of great importance to the word, and put it in a healthy body of someone who has died, or dying, so that person might live on. And as long as the subjects mind is an active one, you could carry that on, several times.
This is the last face of Professor Jacob Seltzman. We know that because it was in this guise that Seltzman escaped the village. I wonder what Professor Jacob Seltzman looks like today?
Yes, I know this is only fiction. But sometimes I like to let my imagination loose on some aspects of the Prisoner, it's more interesting that way. Be seeing you

Sunday, 20 February 2011

After watching the entire sections of The Making Of THEPRISONER, I was disappointed that there had been no mention whatsoever was made of that most iconic visualisation of the Prisoner, the village guardian, and this I find surprising. All I can say of the guardian, is that for the 2009 production it has been upgraded from a mere metreological weather balloon, to computer graphic imaging. I was hoping to hear the ideas of what lay behind 'Rover' this time, to hear how the production people decided to stick with the original village guardian, and not go with anything else.

In the past, it has been suggested that 'Rover' is symbolic, symbolic of our own fears. That when we see 'Rover' we see what we are most afraid of, conjoured up from our own subconscious. And that appears to be the way with 'Rover' in the 2009 prodcution of THEPRISONER. Rover conjoured up by Six, it is Six's own fear which holds him prisoner, stops him from escaping the village, conjured up mentally by Six, when he thinks he is going to lose someone, like 16 in the Sea, who was supposed to have been his brother. And 4-15, the woman whom he had fallen in love with, and was due to marry, Rover blocked 4-15's way in the mountains that time. So this time around, Rover is not simply the village guardian, in fact the only time Rover is seen in the village, is when Six has conjoured it up, and that was only once during the final episode. You don't actually see Rover patrolling in the village as in the original series. Rover has not been reinvented, simply reinterpreted, and in the past anyones interpretation of Rover could be the right one.

It's not Patrick McGoohan's regular, long suffering stunt double Frank Maher. And besides which he's too short to play the Prisoner in close up, perhaps he was used in the long shots - in the distance like. I don't know who this chap is, and I don't know of any other fan of the Prisoner who knows who he is either. But whoever he is, he was also in the cavern back beneath the village!

To think that No.6 was only just being introduced to Speedlearn, when the educational experiment must have been running for quite some weeks, perhaps months! Because at the beginning of The General, No.6 was sat at a table at the Cafe, and when the students were requested to return to their homes, as the Professor is due to start his lecture in 30 minutes, according to the announcement over the public address system. But No.6 didn't seem to know what was going on, in fact when he was about to order another coffee, he told the waiter that he was not one of the Professors students. And when the waiter said "You're never to old to learn" No.6 asked who had told him that "The Professor?" No replied the waiter "The General." Who's the General? " So it appears that No.6 didn't even know who the General is!
My point being, nothing happens over night. Although it appears to do so in the village. No, there has to be a point when something begins, and that might appear to be the next day, as with Speedlearn in The General. But Speedlearn appears to have been on-going for quite some time, because when requested to return to their cottages ready for the Professors next lecture, all the citizens go home, and the waiter is eager to close the Cafe. Yet No.6, who is also a citizen of the village, appears not to know what's going on! Where has No.6 been?
BCNU

Nigel Stock may have been a fine actor, but he was wrongly cast as the Prisoner. Although Stock said that he'd got into the character of the Prisoner, and played it like Patrick McGoohan, {or words to that effect} I don't! I mean Stock is a different size to McGoohan, which means that's not even the Prisoners suit of clothes he's wearing.
In my opinion, it should have been Patrick McGoohan's stunt double on the production, Frank Maher, who should have played the Prisoner in the role of the Colonel. At least that way, while the mind of the Prisoner was in the body of the Colonel, he would have acted just like how McGoohan would have. Because it's the mind that controls the body.
And remember when the Prisoner woke up that morning of Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling back in his own London home? An arm is raised and the Prisoner looks at his wrist watch upon his wrist to see the time. At that moment the Prisoner should have realised that something was wrong, seeing as how that wrist, and hand was not that of the Prisoners. Mind you they were not those of Nigel Stock either. The cameraman Len Harris filmed his own wrist and hand as those of the Colonel!
BCNU

Saturday, 19 February 2011

The reason given for the reason as to why so many different No.2's, is because the Prisoner is unable to form a relationship with his interrogator. Well that's true to some extent, but No.6 does form a rapport with No.2 in The Chimes of Big Ben, Once Upon A Time, and Fall Out. And perhaps the same can be said of No.2 of A B & C, and The General. But one thing No.6 does, is treat them all the same way. So we take a look at each No.2 in turn.Arrival - No.2, the first man to debrief the Prisoner, is also a one man welcoming committee turned tour guide. His purpose is no more than that. Perhaps he's arrived at the end of his term of Office! The new No.2, shows the Prisoner that escape is not possible, and puts the Prisoner firmly in his place by officially recognising his number, Number Six. A win for No.2.The Chimes of Big Ben - After going through with a complicated escape plan, No.6 finally discovers that the Colonels office is a mock office, that he has not escaped at all, but is back in the village. The Prisoner has been hoodwinked by a pretty face. But No.6 may not have given away the reason for his resignation, but some how it is a hollow victory, and you can sense the disappointment felt by a somewhat subdued No.6 as he returns to his cottage.A B & C - A victory for No.6, who has destroyed No.2 by the end of the episode.Free For All - No.6 takes on No.2 during the local elections. Apparently No.6 is elected as the new No.2 with a unanimous majority. However when ensconced in his new office, No.6 is then confronted by the even newer no.2. She's is different to her stateman like predecessor. This No.2 is hard faced, severe, and warns No.6 that they have many ways and means, but do not wish to damage him permanently. The Prisoner has not been broken, just left battered and bruised!The Schizoid Man - A victory for No.6, although he failed in his attempt to escape, he does hang onto his identity. A victory for No.2, as he sees through No.6's guise as Curtis, and stops No.6 from escaping, but also with the loss of his agent, Curtis, means that this episode is a draw for both sides.The General - Two men dead, a destroyed computer, and defeat for No.2!Many Happy Returns - No.6 escapes the village. He makes it all the way home to his house in Westminster, London. Discovers the location of the village, to where he is unceremoniously returned to face a new No.2. No.6 has been taught a lesson. And the village has been in control all along, in giving No.6 a taste of freedom, and then taking it away!Dance of the Dead -No.6 encounters an almost elfin No.2, well suited to the character of Peter Pan. No.6 is put on trial, and sentenced to death. The Prisoner might think that he has scored a victory against No.2 by ripping out the paper and wiring of the teletype machine. But No.2's laugh is hardly one of a defeated lady, as the teletype suddenly whirrs into life...................Checkmate - This No.2 is more of an administrator figure. Happy to let those like the doctor-No.22 to get on with whatever experiment she desires, but only up to a point. No lukeotomy is to be performed on No.6, he's far too important! No.6 takes a new tack, and perhaps realising that he cannot escape on his own, selects a number of 'reliable' men to help him. Although the escape attempt is thwarted, it by a simple mistake. No.6 defeats himself this time, by not getting the Rook to trust him implicitly!Hammer Into Anvil - A battle of wits between No.2 and No.6. No.2 threatens to 'hammer' No.6. But by the end of the episode, it is No.2 who has been 'hammered,' and left a completely devastated and broken man. A weak link in the chain of command, waiting to be broken!It's Your Funeral - On the one hand we have a new No.2 who is left with egg on his face, as he is forced to witness the escape of the retiring No.2 on Appreciation Day. On the face of it, it would appear to be a victory for No.6. But then, as the helicopter is in the air, travelling away from the village, does it not then suddenly turn back towards the village?A Change of Mind - By now the viewer should realise that nothing really nasty, like a lukotomey operation is going to happen to No.6, that was suggested previously in Checkmate, and was rejected because No.6 is far too important. But nevertheless we go along with the plot, and by the end of which, No.6 has defeated No.2 by having 86 denounce No.2 as being unmutual!Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling - This is a complete and utter disaster for No.2. One man dead, the Colonel, and Seltzman escapes in his guise, while No.6's mind regains it's body. The only victor of this episode is Professor Jacob Seltzman, who is now free to continue his work!Living In Harmony - Again another utter disaster for No.2. A murder, a suicide, and two more personnel dead. Defeat for No.2 yes, but not via any straight confrontation with No.6. But through his own emotions, and those of his assistants.The Girl Who Was Death - A win for No.6. although any No.2 who thought No.6 would drop his guard with children deserves to lose!Once Upon A Time - A one to one situation between No.2 and No.6, locked in a battle of wits, and that of the Embryo Room! It has to be either one of them, and it just so happens to be No.6. But there is a bitter taste to this victory. I believe as No.2 was beginning to like No.6, the same could be said of No.6 in the way he smashed that glass on the floor.Fall Out - No battle here. Only violent and bloody revolution, as No.6 and No.2 become allies in the struggle against the system!
There are many different facets in the many confrontations between No.6 and No.2 which need to be taken into account. But in the count of win lose or draw, I make it the 9 wins for the Prisoner, 6 wins for No.2, and 1 draw.
Be seeing you

.................... When No.2 of A B & C realises that he's been out-witted by No.6. All the strength and enthusiasm suddenly drains out of the man. But wait! There's still a chance...No.6 is making his way through the woods towards the door of the secret laboratory. The steel door slides open, No.6 strides purposely along a corridor, at the end of which a pair of steel doors open and No.6 walks into the laboratory. It would seem that No.6 forgot to give No.2 the envelope, he does so now. Urged to open the envelope, No.2 sees the evidence for himself.........the Prisoner really was going on holiday!
Be seeing you

Friday, 18 February 2011

It would seem that the election of Free For All has been taking it's toll on No.2. He doesn't seem to be too well at all, and there might be a question of "Is No.2 Fit For A Further term?"
All joking apart, the actor Eric Portman, was not well during the filming of Free For All, in fact the scenes he played in during the episode were filmed one line at a time.
Eric Portman died in 1969.
Be seeing you

The Lava Lamp, is an iconic device from the 1960's, and much used in the Prisoner. The lava lamp can be seen in No.2's office, the Examination Room of the Hospital, and two in No.6's cottage for examples, and I think it is symbolic of that 'thing,' the Village Guardian, as being a a reminder to the citizens of what is out there in the village, should citizens fall from grace, or attempt to escape.
If the Lava Lamp is symbolic of the Village Guardian, then it is ironic, is it not, that the peptually moving Guardian, molevolant, yet contained behind glass, making it just as much a prisoner as any citizen of the village!
Be seeing you

I'm not so sure about the title of this piece of blog really. Because Leo McKern, at the time of Fall Out, was far from being a new man! In fact Leo McKern didn't want to come back to the Prisoner, didn't want to work with McGoohan again, not after his experience during Once Upon A Time. Leo was in a terrible state, during and after that episode, in fact he had a breakdown.
It was the one to one role playing you see which did for Leo McKern. When playing the role of the Headmaster, and was rolling about on the floor with No.6 at his throat, McGoohan was playing the role for real it seemed to Leo McKern who saw something in McGoohan's eyes, and thought McGoohan was going to kill him!
And it was because of his experience of playing against McGoohan in Once Upon A Time, which made McKern say that he would not play against "that man" ever again! But as we bear witness, Leo McKern was persuaded to do just that.
As for the make-over for No.2, well Leo McKern had had his hair cropped, and beard shaven off for a previous film production before going to work on Fall Out, hence the need for a change of appearance for No.2.
BCNU

Thursday, 17 February 2011

The other day I received a letter in the post, yes, one of those old fashioned letters which people say is 'snail-mail.' Well I still like to write and send letters to friends, as well as to receive them. But I digress, because it's part of the content of the letter that matters in this case, because my friend asked me if I'd noticed that in the Prisoner episode The Schizoid Man, how when the helicopter, with No.6 aboard takes off outside the Recreation Hall, has skids and no bouancy floats? And below is a picture of the said helicopter taken during The Schizoid Man.

My friend went on to write, "but then when in the air, and the helicopter flies a circuit over the village, the helicopter has the addition of bouyancy floats!" And here is a picture of that helicopter.

It was well observed. And when I replied to my friends letter, I congratulated him upon his observation. But what he had failed to observe, is that these are two different helicopters! And that when the helicopter lands back outside the Recreation Hall, it has reverted back to being the one in the top picture. The bottom picture is merely from stockfootage of the original village helicopter, filmed at Portmeirion. While the helicopter seen taking off outside the village Recreation Hall, was filmed on a back lot at MGM film studios at Borehamwood.

Questions are a burden to others - meaning that others are burdened with finding and asking questions, while Answers a Prison for onseself, or as No.6 put it Answers are a prison to onself - meaning that if one gives an answer you cannot take it back. You've said it, rightly or wrongly the answer might be, you've given the answer. You've said it, and what is said cannot be unsaid. And it is that which makes a prison for oneself.
BCNU

That during his debriefing session with No.2 on the day of his arrival in the village, the Prisoner snatches his personal file from No.2, and quickly begins to work through the file, flipping over pages but from back to front. Whereas the pictures on the wall screen, taken from his personal file, work from front to back! It did occur to me that as the Prisoner is quickly turning the pages of his personal file, that he is racing himself against the pictures being shown on the wall screen. Just a thought.
BCNU

Wednesday, 16 February 2011

If No.6 is the alter ego of No.1, then when the various No.2's who speak to No.1 on the telephone, must surely have recognised his voice, being that of No.6! Well they would, if that was the case, only it wasn't. Because at the time, no-one knew who No.1 was during much of the production of the Prisoner, not right up until the very end with Fall out in fact. The production crew thought No.1 might turn out to be the Butler, or that No.1 would be Lew Grade, who was head of ITC at the time. But in the end Patrick McGoohan made himself No.1, as he once said "Who else could No.1 have been?"
So all through the 16 episodes of the Prisoner, No.1 wasn't anyone at all, simply a supposed voice on the other end of a telephone! It was once written that No.2 is the only person to have spoken to No.1, but that is not the case. The Supervisor-No.28 once spoke to No.1 in the episode It's Your Funeral!
Be seeing you

It's raining outside, so it's really not so strange that No.14, in A B & C should insist that no "wet" should be brought into the laboratory. The two men quickly remove their macs and boots, only to wheel No.6 in to the laboratory on a trolley covered by a wet rubber sheet. So much for No.14 insisting "Don't bring that wet in here!"
BCNU

Why? Well the last time No,6 has his portrait painted, it turned out that the artist was somewhat eccentric. The protrait turing out to be an abstract of circles within squares.

Hardly the perfect likeness as No.6 said it was. But then he was simply humouring the artist, who I think actually got into the soul of the man. After all didn't No.6 cirlce the square during that aptitude test in the Labour Exchange Managers office on the morning of his arrival in the village?

Fans of the 1960's series the Prisoner, will recall the village newspaper The Tally Ho, with its contributor No.113 and his photographic colleague No.113b. The one interviewed No.6, who was running for election to the position of No.2, while No.113b took his photograph.
Well I have to say that it looked very much as though the village of the 2009 series THEPRISONER has no newspaper. But surely that cannot be the case, because as Two and his son 11-12, pay a call to a building site in the Village, under the project of 'More Village.' Two and his son are pictured here with two members of the press, a photographer and a reporter interviewing Two, about his ambitions for 'More Village.'
The thing about THEPRISONER, is it's subtlety. It's not in your face like the original series.
BCNU

Patrick McGoohan, creator of the Prisoner, with Clough Williams-Ellis, architect behind Portmeirion.
"I'm sure that my Italianate village will compliment your television series," said Clough. "Yes" replied McGoohan "And the Prisoner might just do Portmeirion a bit of good as well." {but don't quote me on that}.
Althought is perfectly true, that both Portmeirion and the Prisoner compliment each other perfectly. It is also true to say that the1960's series the Prisoner would not be the same without Portmeirion. Yet, Portmeirion without the Prisoner would still be Portmeirion.
Be seeing you

The headline is a question regarding No.2's health, not his ability. Here No.2 is a broken man at the end of A B & C. He had underestimated No.6's ability. But the fault was not all his, although he must surely pay the price.
However this is not the end of this particular No.2, as we encounter him once more as he is brought back to the village for a second term of office in The General, in which No.2 is much more relaxed and confident, perhaps because he is not directly involved against No.6, only with overseeing the educational experiment of Speedlearn.
It has often been debated, in the past, which episode came first, A B & C or The General? Because in the opening sequence dialogue when No.6 asks Who are you? No.2 responds confidently I am No.2. But in the same dialogue of The General No.2 responds to the same question The new No.2. No.2's first response suggests No.2 has been in the village for some time, whereas, the second response says he's new in the village, and so The General should really preceed A B & C in the screening order. But then again, in The General No.2 tells Madame Professor that he and No.6 are Old friends, which turns the whole thing on it's head again!
Be seeing you

"The devil looks after this own," so thay say. But in the case of the Prisoner he has a guardian angel in the form of No.1, and that is why no permanent damage must befall him. Why doctors at the hospital are allowed to go only so far in their experiments conducted on No.6, otherwise he might have ended up as a brainswashed imbicile like Roland Walter Dutton. But then again, it could be said, that as the village Administration see No.6 as having a future with them, that they are actually "looking after No.1."
BCNU

There really isn't any rhyme or reason why No.6 was involved with the assassination plot against the retiring No.2 during that episode of It's Your Funeral. I mean if 'they' are going to have No.2 executed, why not just get on with it? So sure were they that their plan would succeed, 'They' then expand the plan, bringing in No.6 to try and prevent it. Didn't 'they' realise that to get No.6 involved was sheer folly, and would simply endanger the plan, and bring about it's failure - which it did!
BCNU

It is a pity is it not, that such time and effort had gone into the addition of a canopy to make this infernal contraption, that it never actually appeared in any of the episodes of the Prisoner, save for the Penny Farthing minus it's canopy. Pictured here as it is, complete with rider, although being assisted outside the Town Hall during production. The original photograph is in a cabinet in the Prisoner shop at Portmeirion.

Monday, 14 February 2011

The interior of 93's cottage. The moment I saw this, instantly there was something familiar about it. Not a direct copy of course, but certainly one can see the influences of the former No.6's cottage here.

It's that rounded arch which is the striking feature of both cottages, not to mention the two motion lava lamps, a modern day take on the Mathmos lava lamp, which is still in existance today.
Be seeing you

About Me

An enthusiast of the 1960's television series 'the Prisoner.' A writer, author, and considered an authority on the series.
'The Prisoner' captivated me from the moment of that clash of thunder in the opening sequence, and I have been a prisoner of 'the Prisoner' ever since.